Railroad tie



RAILROAD TI E Filed Sept. 14, 1929 INVEN TOR l James Mac/7am??? Arnie/var Patented Mar. 22, 1932 JAMES MACMARTIN, 0F ALBANY, NEW YORK RAILROAD Tin Application filed: September 14, 1929. Serial No. 392,699.

My: invention: relates to metallic railway ties, and particularly to those kindsin which resilient. insulating blocks, for example, wood, are usedin connection with the metal- 1 "6 lie tie. proper;

The disadvantages of the ordinary wooden tie. are. many. Its useful life is relatively short, due to weathering and rotting, and, as the tie becomes old,.it fails to. hold secure- ,10 ly the spikes or screws which hold down the rails. Moreover, withv the depletion of. our forests,.the cost. of replacements is constantly increasing- However-,there are some advantages attending; the use: of wooden ties.

. 5 They not only cushion thepounding efi'ect of the trains and hence make for easier riding, but they also act. as electrical insulatorsso that there is comparatively small leakage fromthe; trackv circuits.

It is the object of my inventionto device a composite tie which combines the advantages ofv steel for durability and wood for resiliency and insulation. A further object is to'providea tie in which the wood portions .2 may be removed and replaced with comparative ease.

With these. ob-jects inview, my invention includes the novel elements and the combinations and arrangements of elements de- .,;,3 scribed below and, illustrated in, the accompanying drawings, in which 7 F ig. 1 is a partial plan view of a railroad track with my novel tie;

Fig. 2. is a vertical longitudinal sectional 3 View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3' is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig; 4: is a view similar to Fig. 3 taken on the lined-4 of Fig; 1'

Fig. 5 isa' fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 taken on the line 5'5 of Fig. 6, and showing a modified form of tie;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. 5 but showing a further slight modification. Referring to the drawings, 1 are longitudinal! irons, preferably used steel rails, but

( ,0 which maybe of any suitable structural shapes such as channels or I beams. These longitudinal irons are secured in. position, relative to each other, by steel cross; pieces, 2, shown as welded to the longitudinal irons at 11-, but which, however, may be attached by -'55 any other suitable means, such for example, as rivets passing through flanges. provided on the cross pieces and abutting the webs of the rails. H

The cross pieces, 2, have their upper edges bent over to form flanges, and, their sides and bottoms are cut tofit the shape of the longitudinal irons.

Above the irons, 1, between. the cross pieces, 2,.andi under the flanges of the latter arewood wearing blocks, 3, (preferably of oak). These wearing blocks, 3, are preferably only partly supported by the irons, 1, though the latter may entirely support the wearing bloc-ks, if desired.

Beneath the wearing blocks, 3-, and between the-longitudinal irons, 1, are wood. bed blocks, 4:, which preferably only partly support the wearing blocks, 3', but, which may, if. desired, form the entire support for the wearing -75 blocks. The distance between the longitudinal irons, l, which limitsthe width or thick ness of the bed blocks, is sufficient to permit the staggered rail fastenings, 5, to enter the bed blocks, 4, and not be so close tothe irons, 1, as to cause a leakage of electricity from the track circuits-to the longitudinal irons, 1..

The irons may be further secured by steel cross pieces or braces, 6.. They are 'of'sui'table size, and are welded or riveted to the longitudinal irons, 1, to prevent relative longitudinal movements of the irons, 1. The cross pieces, 6, may be located in. any suitable place for the purpose intended, and there may be one or more of'theln. i

The track rails 7 are supported on top" of the wearing blocks, 3, and are secured to the steel tie, by means of spikesor screws, 5-,;extending into the wood elements; Screw fasten-ings, if'used, need notextend' through the wearing: block. Ifdesired, tie plates may be placed between the base of the: rails, 7,. and the tops of the wearing plates, 3.

If old rails are used. for? the longitudinal irons their top surfaces may be planed or milled, as shown at 9, to form a bearing for the wearing blocks, 3. Instead of planing or milling the rails, it is obvious that flat pieces of steel may be attached to the irons by any suitable means.

The wearing and bed blocks are easily removable andrenewable the wearing blocks, 3, by horizontal sliding, and the bed blocks by vertical lifting. The blocks should be of such size as to fit tightly in the spaces provided and they will be held firmly in place'by the swelling of the wood against the longitudinal irons of the tie when the spikes are driven intoplace. r iv u In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a modification of my tie. Here, the bed block and wearing block are a single piece, 15, secured at one end by strap, 16, which may be formedfrom a channel iron, and is removably fastened to irons, 1, by bolts, 19. The piece, 15, is secured at the opposite end by cross piece, 2. The longi- .tudinal irons, 1, are spaced further apart than those shown in Figs. 1 to 1 so that the block, 15, will have sufiicient width or thickness to provide an adequate bearing area for the rail. This width should be at least suflicient to support a tie plate, 17. Block, 15, while easlly removable and renewable, should snugly in-the space provided so that the splkes will 30 also cause a sufficient swelling to hold it se- 7 curely in place.

' In Fig. 7, is shown a further modification in which cross piece, 18, has its flange so arranged that the flange, as well as the rest of the cross piece, may be welded or fastened to the iron, 1.. This iron may be milled if des red 'asshown at or if desired have a flat lIOIl secured to the top of the longitudinal iron, 1, so that theflange, 18, may have close contact with rail, 1. While -I have described and illustrated my invention in its preferred embodiment only, it is to be understood that the words which I have used" are words of description rather than of limitation, and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of my invention.

For example, could use blocks of fiber rubber, rubber compositiom'or any material which combines the necessary resiliency with insulating properties, and I wish itto be clearly understood that my invention contemplates the use, as

. described inrespect of wood, of other mate rials having the necessary resiliency and insulation properties.

What Iclaim is- V 1. A railway track structure comprising ties formed of longitudinally extending metallic members, metallic cross pieces secured to said members, said cross pieces being provided on their upper edges with flanges "extending towardeach other to form a chaninstead of wood blocks, I

nel therebetween, and a wearing block in- I serted in said channel.

2. A railway tie comprising longitudinal irons secured together, transverse, flanged elements attached to said irons, and rail supporting wearing blocks secured in place by said transverse elements.

3. A railway tie comprising va plurality of longitudinal elements, transverse flanged elements securingsaid longitudinal elements together, and railsupporting, wearing blocks secured between said flanged elements.

4. A railway tie comprising longitudinal members,- transverse members attached to said members and provided on their upper edges with flanges, and wearing blocks having-physical characteristics differin from said longitudinal and transverse mem ers secured in place by said longitudinal members.

5. A railway tie comprising longitudinal 535 members, connecting means including flanged elementswelded to said members and wearing blocks of insulating material supported by said members and secured in place by said connecting means. 1 V

6. A railway track structure comprising two longitudinal irons secured together in spaced relation, cross pieces anchored to said irons and provided above said irons with flanges extending toward each other and forming a channel, and wearing blocks slidably inserted in saidchannel and supported by said irons. I 4

7. A railway tie comprising two longitudinal metallic members secured together,

transverse elements locked between and sesuredto said members and provided at the top w1th flanges extending toward each other,

bed blocks between and supported by the h longitudinal members, and wearing blocks slidably inserted between said flanges and supported by the bed blocks, and longitudinal members.

8. The tie as set forth in claim 7 ,inwhich the bed blocks and wearing blocks are of insulating material.

9. Ina railway tie, the combination with a plurality of spaced longitudinal metal 7 members, of insulating blocks between said Ins members, wearing blocks supported on said insulating blocks, and means including flanged connecting elements' securing {the members and wearing blocks together.

10. In a railway tie, the combination with a plurality of spaced longitudinal members, of insulating blocks between said members, wearing blocks supported on said insulating blocks and covering the longitudinal members and means securing the members and wearing blocks together.

11. In a railway tie, two longitudinally extending track rail sections located sideby side, means for securing said sections'to-' gether and wearing blocks extending between said sections and supported on the flanges thereof.

12. In combination, a tie comprising two longitudinally extending track rail sections located side by side, means for securing said sections together, Wearing blocks extending between said sections and supported on the flanges thereof and track rails mounted on said Wearing blocks.

JAMES MAGMARTIN, 

